For our sixth annual Creative Writing Competition and anthology, MK Lit Fest has adopted the theme of 'The Trees'. 

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Trees lend themselves to many stories, as they are interwoven in our lives in many ways. We climb them or hide behind them as children. As teenagers, we carve our initials in them (don’t do that, by the way). As adults, we walk among them or rest beneath them – or perhaps grow them fondly in gardens or in community orchards. We plant them in memory of those we’ve lost – and we mourn trees we’ve lost too. (One tree in our city in particular.)

 

They give us blossom, fruits and nuts, autumn colour, shade – and, of course, oxygen. They are an individual habitat for other animals, insects and plants, as well as a collective one in establishing woodland ecosystems. Their roots can bind together soils to guard against flooding and erosion. They provide wood for boat building, musical instruments, construction –  and for wooden spoons. Without them, no-one could whistle Autumn Leaves: we’d also have to forego mistletoe, Stradivarius violins and charcoal drawings… even if they also give us hayfever. And planted too close to our homes, they can crack our paving or undermine our foundations.

But our impact on them can be equally detrimental. Climate change is a source of often fatal stress and threat to the trees around us. And they can take their revenge: forest fires increasingly take human neighbourhoods down with them as they burn.

So… write us a poem, a piece of flash fiction or a short true story (creative non-fiction) about trees – singular or plural. In a city of 22 million specimens, you shouldn’t lack for inspiration.